Ice skate walker



Get. 4, 1932.

P. G. COLE I CE SKATE WALKER Filed March 19, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 wwwiz $49,

Oct. 4, 1932. P. G. couz ICE SKATE WALKER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 19, 1932 Elvvvenioz 6?. $147,

351 m avian mush,

Patented Oct. 4, 1932 PHILIP e. COLE, or IRVINGTON-ON-THE-HUDSON, NEW YORK 3 ICE SKATE WALKER A pplication filed March 19, 1932. Serial No. 599,895.

[5 that the skating pond is located some distance from the club house, hotel, or other shelter from which the skater starts, and hence the skater is confronted with the dilemma of either'putting on his skates at the ,pondand 1 undergoing its attendant inconveniences,

such as changing shoes, exposing the feet to the cold, checking his walking shoes, etc., or else of making the change at the hotel, shelter, or the like, and walking therefrom 'to the pond on his skate blades, thus subjecting the same to thedulling action resulting from repeated contact with the ground, to say nothing of the strain upon the ankles of the skater. I V v According to my present invention, I overcome the aforementioned objections and in conveniences by providing a skate walker or attachment having a blade protector and a walking tread, which devices can be quickly and easily attached and removed from the skates after the latter are put on by the skater. More specifically, my ice skate walker comprises a supporting tread and a blade grip.- per which may be manually or'automaticall'y operable to grip and positively hold on to'the skate, said gripping means being preferably in the form of one or more resilient elements or a resiliently mounted rigid element.

My invention also embodies other features of novelty, and will be better understood from thedetailed description which follows when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein f Figure l is a side elevation of my skate walker attached to an ice skate. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the skate walker 'shown in Fig. 1, the skate blade bek along ings, my skate walker may be said to comprise a sole or tread portion A which, sup ports on its upper sidefin proximity'to the longitudinal center line thereof, a longitudinally extending rigid rib or abutment B having a flat vertical side wall 6 against which the blade C of a skate -D may be engaged and clamped by suitable clamping means E. The tread portion A may be formed of any rigid or semi-rigidmat-erial, and in outline approximates the sole of a moccasin, the under side of said tread portion being roughened, as indicated at a, so as to provide a good gripping engagement upon a slippery surface. Preferably, the skatewalker will be formed of aluminum or an aluminum alloy by die casting or the like, the rib B being cast or integrally formed with the tread portion and braced in relation thereto by transverse ribs 1). Adjacent the fiat vertical side bof the rib B there is provided a lateral supportingsurface a for the bottom of the skate blade, which surfacea, if desired, may be grooved and fitted with a piece of felt, leather, packof the skate blade will bear and be protected from injury. In order that the skate blade mg, or thelike, (1 against which the bottom may be positioned centrally of the skate walker, it will be apparent that therib B must be disposed slightly to one side ofthe longitudinal center line of the tread portion.

,The clamping means E is preferably designed to extend longitudinally of the rib in spaced relation thereto and normally disposed on the opposite side-of the longitudinal center line ofthe tread portion and adapted for lateral movement with relation to the rib, so that the blade of the skate may be clamped between said rib and said clamping means.

In Figs. 1 to 3 the clamping means E is in the form of a rigid bar of metal bent into sinuous form, having nodes 6 intermediate its ends,wh1ch latter are reversely' bent to 5;

tudinally extending :rib F mounted upon the i tread portion'A and reinforced by" an upat f, to accommodate the bight of one U- I the bar E. i

shaped portion a, and at. theother end of said rib there is provided a removable cleat or lug f designed to overlie the biglrtof the U-shaped portion 6 at the opposite end of For laterallymoving the bar E toward the ribIB' and into clamping'engagement with the skate blade C, I provide a manually con: trolled leverH, one end of which is flattened, as indicated. at 72,, and provided With a cam edge surface it, adapted for movement through a horizontal slot f in the rib F,said flattened end being pivotally mounted upon the rib a which is bifurcated by having the slot f passing therethrough.

By manually moving the lever H from its position shown in Fig. 2 to that shown in Fig. 1, it will be apparent that the cam surface it will engage the'central portion of the sinuous clamping bar E' and move the latter bodily toward the rib B to clamp the skate blade C between said rib and said clamping bar. It will also be apparent that skate blades ofdilferent thicknesses will be equally well held by the clamping bar, since immediately upon the clamping bar engaging the ice skate blade, the leaf springs G will flex as the operating handle is moved toits position shown in Fig. 1. The tension of the springs G will also function to hold the clamping lever in clamping engagement against accidental disengagement... To re move the skate walker from the iceskate blade, it ismerely necessary to reverse the movement ofthe cam lever H, whereupon the clamping member will disengage the blade, .In the embodiment ofmy invention shown in Fig. 4, the tread portion Af isinteriorly out out, as shown at a and 0, to substantial 1y reduce theweight thereof, and the manually controlled'cam lever J, instead of being pivotally mounted, is herein shown as being slidably mounted within the slot f One end of the lever Jis lateraly bent, asindicated at 7', to extend through the slot f and the other endxis bent to provide a cam surface .3 For cooperativeengagement with the cam surface 9' of the lever, the clamping bar E", which in all other respects is similar tothe bar E, is provided with a cam surface e -intermediate its ends. In the operation of this device the lever J, when moved from the right to. the left, will function to cam the clampingjbar E into gripping engagement with a skate blade,

be longitudinally inserted between the clamping means and the rib B from either .endi of; the device, in the course of which action the springs K and L will flex and the portions k, Z and- Z- will engage the side of the blade and clamp it against the rib B. To facilitate the entrance of the skate blade from either endof' the device past the spring endsis and Z the latter are curved away from the rib B, as shown at 751 and Z respectively. In the modificationshown in Figs. 6 and 'Z, the construction of the clamping means is somewhat analogous to that shown in Figs. 1 to 3, except that the sinuous clamping bar is formed of resilient metahandj hencethe supplemental springs G of Figs. 1 to 3 are dispensed with; Formoving said spring bar M, it has fastened to it midway its ends a collar on which extends through the slot f in rib F, said collar having an opening m therein. Also extending through the slot f and pivotallymountedjuponapin a between the bifurcations of the rib a? is one end of anoperating lever N, similar to'the lever H,havinga cam surface 17/ adapted to engage and move the spring bar toward the rib B. The pin n extends through the opening m in the collar m, as does alsoa pin Won the lever N, said'pi'n "n functioningto withdraw the spring bar M when the movement of the lever N is reversed'by'engaging against the curved wall'm ofthe'opening m.

' WhileI have shown and described several embodiments of my invention, it is to be under'stood that I" do not desire; to be limited to the specifiedetails of the constructions shown, since the same may be varied or modified without departing. from, the spirit of the invention.

That I claim is 1'. A skate walker or the like, comprising a sole or tread portion, a longitudinallyextending abutment supported on the upper sideof the'tread portion and in proximity to the longitudinal center line thereof, and clamping means mounted on the tread' portion and extending longitudinally of the abutment for lateral: movement with relation thereto: for clamping therebetweenthe blade of an ice-skate. i 7

2.. A skatewalker, or the like eomprising'a s'ole or tread portion, a; longitudinally extending,rigidribsupported on the: upper side ofthe tread portionjand, slightly to one side of the longitudinal center. line thereof, and

a clamping member mounted on the tread portion and extending longitudinally of the rib and normally disposed on the opposite side of the longitudinal center line of the tread portion, said clamping member being movable laterally with relation to the rib for clamping therebetween the blade of an ice skate.

3. A skate walker or the like comprising a sole or tread portion, a longitudinally extending rigid rib having a flat vertical side and supported on the upper side of the tread portion and slightly to one side of the longitudinal center line thereof, and a clamping member mounted on the tread portion and extending longitudinally of the rib and normally disposed on the opposite side of the longitudinal center line of the tread portion, said clamping member being of sinuous form having a substantially flat vertical side wall.

for lateral movement with relation to the rib for clamping therebetween the blade of an ice skate.

4:. A skate walker accordingrto claim 1, wherein the clamping means are resiliently mounted.

5. A skate walker according to claim 1, wherein the clamping means are resiliently mounted, and manually operable means are provided for laterally moving the clamping means.

6. A skate walker according to claim 1, wherein the clamping means are resiliently mounted, and a manually controlled cam lever is provided for laterally moving the clamping means. 7

7. A skate walker or the like comprising a sole or tread portion, a longitudinally extendingrigid rib having a flat vertical side and supported on the upper side of the tread portion and somewhat to one side of the longitudinal center line thereof, and another rib mounted on the tread portion somewhat to the opposite side of said center line thereof and substantially parallel to the first rib,

and a clamping member disposed between said ribs and supported by the second rib.

8. A skate walker or the like comprising a sole or tread portion, a longitudinally extending rigid rib having a flat vertical side and supported on the upper side of the tread portion and somewhat to one side of the longitudinal center line thereof, and another rib mounted on the tread portion somewhat to the opposite side of said center line thereof and substantially parallel to the first rib, a clamping member disposed between said ribs and supported by the second rib, and manually operable means extending through an opening in said second rib for moving the clamping member into clamping engagement.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name.

P I IP G. COLE. 

